So after the tournament on Saturday (which I’ll write up soon, I promise), I wanted to make myself something breakfast-ey and unhealthy. For most tournaments, I have to cut around 5lbs, though I’d really like to cut less, since the last day is miserable. Since at the next tournament I have to weigh in on two days, I am trying to lose weight earlier so that I don’t have to cut hardcore. I’m aiming to lose about 7 or 8 pounds before the next tournament in May, so I may or may not write about dieting, but I do want to write more about food and recipes. In any case, without further ado I present the (experimental) breakfast sandwich:

The final result

Experimental Breakfast Sandwich

3 slices of Wiltshire bacon (if you’re using streaky bacon then use 4 strips per sandwich, or you could use peameal bacon)

1/2 of an avocado

1-2 slices of cheddar (I later realised a sharp cheese would work better, however, so you’d need just about enough to cover the muffin)

1 English muffin

1 egg

malt vinegar

salt

1. Start to cook the bacon on the stove-top on medium heat, turning frequently to ensure even and crispy cooking. Make sure the oven rack is placed directly below the broiler and turn the broiler on ‘high.’

Frying the bacon – this is not close to done

2. While the bacon is cooking, toast the English muffin until just brown, and set a pot of water to boil. Add approximately 1/2 teaspoon of salt and a few dashes of the malt vinegar to the pot. The pot should be large-ish because you’re poaching the eggs in it.

Toasting the muffins

3. After the English muffin is toasted, carefully place the cheese on one half (making sure it doesn’t overhang) and put into the oven on the top rack under the broiler. If you’re using a pan, you should put foil over it to prevent any mess. At this point, the pot of water should be boiling. The bacon may be done at this point too (or maybe earlier), and if it is, put it on an oven-safe plate, cover with foil, and put in the oven on the lower rack.

Broiling the cheese and keeping the bacon warm

4. Break the egg into a small-ish dish or saucer, and then stir the boiling water in the pot into a whirlpool. Drop the egg in. You do not need to keep stirring this. I am going to admit right here, though, that my mum made the eggs for the sandwiches, since I don’t have the confidence to properly poach eggs. They are lovely, though. It should take about 2-3 minutes to poach the egg (to a hard yolk) and less I suppose for a softer yolk. Make sure to keep checking the English muffin under the broiler, because if you forget about it, it will burn.

(Mum) poaching the egg

5. If you haven’t already taken the English muffin out of the oven, do so now. The surface of the cheese should just be starting to brown and blister and bubble and look super delicious. At this point, you’re ready to assemble the sandwiches. The avocado should be prepared to your preference – you can add lime to it, but I’d advise against salt, since the bacon is generally salty enough on its own. In this case, I just used a spoon to scoop chunks out and put them on the sandwich. I put the egg on top of the cheese, then the bacon, then the avocado, and then the top of the muffin. You can re-toast the top of the muffin if you think it’s too cold.

Sandwich assembly

Now, I have some thoughts on the breakfast sandwich I made. It was an experiment for a number of reasons. First, I rarely make breakfast sandwiches, and I wanted to try making one for myself. Second, we poached the eggs instead of frying or grilling them – in my perception for breakfast sandwiches I buy outside of the house, the eggs are not poached. Thirdly, I decided to broil the cheese onto the sandwich, however, we used medium cheddar slices, and both my mum and I found that it didn’t add anything to the sandwich. I feel, though, that using a sharper cheese (Welsh cheddar, perhaps) would justify the use of cheese, but in future, if I don’t have sharp cheese, I’ll leave it out. I may have put a little too much avocado on the sandwich too, since it was a bit messy, though I suppose that’s not really a big deal. This is definitely not a healthy food, though – it has roughly 600 calories – so the next breakfast sandwich experiment will have to wait until after the next tournament.

diet feels when writing this post

What do you think about breakfast sandwiches? They seem really popular. I suppose mine is extra large when it comes to them, since the ones at Tim Hortons range from 290 to 500 calories, though if you exclude the avocado from mine (since none of the options seem to have any hint of vegetation to them), it’s a much more reasonable 450 calories. Taking off the cheese too, which I didn’t find very good, makes mine 340 calories, which puts it near the bottom of the range. I guess they can be made more healthy, but I’m probably just going to stick with my Greek yoghurt and tea breakfast for now. The weather is getting warmer, and oatmeal, to me, doesn’t suit spring and summer.

the winter has been so, so long…

In any case, I think I’m going to track my diet on the blog too with weekly posts and maybe even recipes, if I can get my arse in gear. I hope that you’ll like it too.